One Eyed Flame
by Vampiregirl0421
Summary: Ghouls. Monsters with red eyes and a kagune that can only digest human flesh. Pirates. Bloodthirsty creatures that strive to plunder, pillage and murder. Between these stereotypes; Ace, a young aspiring pirate that isn't completely human, nor completely ghoul. Follow him on his adventure to find out if he is a monster or not! Thatch x Izo and later on Marco x Ace. Including Ken&co!
1. Chapter 1

AN: I don't own One Piece or Tokyo Ghoul, they belong to Mr. Oda and Mr. Ishida respectively

"C'mon Ace, why don't you eat something?! You must be starved!", the ever energetic chef known as Thatch called, waving a plate of delicious food in front of Ace's face. That would be the cause, if Ace was able to eat the food in front of him. To every normal human, it looked really good. A perfect combination of rice, raw fish and algae, also known as sushi. To Ace however, it smelled like a mixture of old glue and paper, raw, rotten fish intestines and moldy rubber. Don't even get Ace started on the soy sauce that Thatch had dripped delicately along the side. The worst thing about it was that Ace knew it would taste even worse than it smelled. On the other hand, the chef smelled absolutely amazing, and Ace hated himself for that.

Ace was a ghoul.

Ghouls were known as cruel, heartless monsters that killed for fun. Monsters that slaughtered thousands of people without batting an eye. They could be identified through the tough skin they had, their kakugan and their kagune when they were hunting. But most importantly, ghouls had about 10 times as many RC-cells as the humans. Added to that, they were unable to consume and digest anything other than human flesh, causing their need to hunt.

In other words, it meant that Ace was a monster. A filthy monster, that didn't deserve to live, that didn't have a place to live. A world to belong in. Not that he would have had that right in the eyes of the world, they hated his father after all. The late pirate king, Gol. D. Roger. He himself learned a long time ago, that he was an honourable man, worthy of being called a father. Still, he wouldn't ever be accepted. Not as what he was.

He liked it here though, the people were nice. He didn't want to hurt them, so he tolled Thatch to piss off, more than likely offending the cook. His excuse was always that the food could be poisoned, but in reality he just couldn't stomach the horrible contraption humans called food. It was understandable. That's how he managed the months on the ship without eating anything. Still, he knew he couldn't last much longer. He was getting hungrier by the second, and he wouldn't manage it much longer. The next island he was gone he told himself, he wouldn't hurt them.

He had had a few close calls, way too close calls. During his fight with Whitebeard and during the interactions with the other commanders. One time, Haruta and Thatch decided to sneak up on him from behind, jumping on his back. He was lost in thought, so he didn't smell them. When they jumped, he could barely keep his kagune from emerging. It wouldn't have killed them, but it would have hurt them and revealed his secret. That was the last thing he wanted. There were numerous other close calls, like the one time when-

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat, bringing Ace back to reality. he looked up to see the familiar pineapple-shaped face of the first division commander Marco. He placed a cup of black coffee next to Ace, the only thing that he had consumed in front of the crew before. The only thing he could enjoy like the humans did. Marco then knelt down next to him.

"if you don't eat, at least drink this-yoi.", he said placing the cup in Ace's hands. Ace immediately gulped down the beverage, which was really good. Not Anteiku quality, but good. It helped him feel less hungry. "Thanks..", he mumbled.

Marco looked at him. "You are clearly hungry Ace. Why don't you eat anything. It isn't poisoned or anything, and Thatch really put effort into it-yoi. You only ever drink black coffee. No sugar or anything. That's not healthy, you know-yoi."

Ace sighed. He really appreciated Marco's efforts, but he couldn't tell him the truth. If he did, Marco would hate him. And word travels fast on a pirate ship. He didn't notice the tears starting to travel down his cheeks.

"Woah, woah, Ace! What's going on-yoi? Are you ok?", Marco asked, a little shocked. Ace had never cried on the ship. Never. And he didn't even answer Marco, he just lowered his head and started crying more. Marco tried to comfort him, but to no avail. That was when Marco decided to take drastic measures. He picked Ace up and started carrying him into his room, ignoring Ace's light protests.

"So, what's going on?", He asked. " It's gotta be something major, or you wouldn't cry like that-yoi. And it is preventing you from becoming our brother. You can tell me-yoi, I'm there for you. And so are the others."

Unbeknownst to Marco, Ace was freaking out pretty bad. The close proximity to Marco made his hunger flare again, and he couldn't control his kakugan anymore. His right sclera turned black and his iris turned red, veins visible around the eye. He didn't want Marco to see, so he turned away.

"Listen, Marco", he started," I really appreciate everything you guys are doing, but you don't want me on your crew.", he sobbed, instinctively covering his right eye with his hand. "Believe me, you don't want me on your crew and you shouldn't!"

Marco on the other hand was confused. Why did Ace think so lowly of himself? Marco positioned himself in a way, that he could see Ace. "Of course we want you on the crew Ace! You were our brother from the start and that will never change-yoi." Then he realized something. "We won't care that Gol. D. Roger was your father-yoi."

"H-How do you know?", Ace asked, hand still covering his eye.

" I knew your mother. Portgas. D Rouge. A charming woman who only loved one man. You are pretty similar you know-yoi.

And Roger was an honourable man too. And if I recall it correctly, there was only one woman alive bearing the name of D with the last name Portgas at that time. I simply connected two and two."

Ace sighed. They wouldn't judge him for his father. Still, he was a monster and he had to make it clear that he shouldn't be on the crew. He decided to voice just that. " Marco, please, I'm a monster. You don't want me on your crew", Ace sobbed.

"Ace, what are you talking about-yoi? You aren't a monste-"

"FOR GOD'S SAKE MARCO, YES I AM A MONSTER!", he hollered, bringing his hands to his head in a desperate manner, leaving his eyes unshielded. He regretted that as soon as he opened his eyes, kakugan visible for the whole world to see. He could see the shock on Marco's face before slamming his hands on his eye again.

"A-Ace.." Marco stuttered, a bit shocked by the revelation. Ace's eye was that of a ghoul, black sclera and red iris. So this was what was preventing him from joining. What made him think he was a monster. He was afraid of hurting them, of potentially killing them. But now everything made sense, why he didn't eat and only drank black coffee. He was probably pretty hungry, he had been on the ship for about three months now. And as far as Marco knew, and he knew that stuff pretty well, ghouls had to eat at least a body every two months. They needed to get Ace something to eat, and fast. Not only because they didn't want him to snap, but also because he was their brother. And no brother of theirs went hungry. Luckily, Marco knew just what to do. So again, he picked Ace up, positioning his head in a way that no crew members could see his kakugan . That, of course, shocked Ace a bit, not expecting this.

"M-Marco, w-what..?", he managed to bring out, shaking and still sobbing.

"I'm gonna get you something to eat", Marco said, starting to carry Ace down the hall. Ace then turned to look at him, confusion written in his still teary eyes. Marco noticed this and sighed. "Ace, we don't judge people for things they aren't responsible for. We don't care about your past, parents or species. You are our brother nonetheless, you have been that from the beginning. Nothing will ever change that."

Ace looked up, hopeful that Marco was telling the truth. He wanted to be normal for once, to be accepted. Sure, Luffy, Sabo, Gramps, Dadan and her bandits, Makino, the mayor and his old crew had accepted him. But he had always thought they were exceptions in this sick and twisted world. But he wanted to believe Marco. The crew had been nice to him, even while they knew he was trying to kill their captain. Their antics had wormed their way into his heard and he could hardly imagine a life without the crazy band known as the Whitebeards anymore. Maybe, just maybe he could trust them. Marco hadn't rejected him the moment he found out. Maybe, just maybe...he could really trust them.

"Why do you call him father?" That question came out of Ace's mouth before he could stop himself. Despite not hating his father, some of the negative emotions remained. It wasn't easy to forget everything the people had said to him all those years ago. He knew his father wasn't like that from somebody that actually knew him. But he wanted to know why they called Whitebeard that.

Marco looked at Ace and answered:" Because he calls us sons. It's just a word, but it makes us happy. " Marco smiled, remembering all of the good times he had with his family. If their was one person worthy of being called father, it was their pops.

And with those words, Ace's resolve to not join the crew shattered completely. They all were so happy, and he wanted to be happy too. A part of a big happy family. He just had to talk to pop-, he meant Whitebeard. Maybe, just maybe, he could belong here.

 ** _AN:_** _ **So, this is something I decided to try after not finding one of these! Of course, that could be my own incompetence but I really liked the idea and wanted to try it out. Since this is my first crossover, it might be a bit bad but, oh well! Ya gotta start somewhere. This is also not following the cannon for Tokyo Ghoul or One Piece, and there are going to be a few major changes to the story that I can't reveal yet since it would ruin the surprise! Well, one of them being that Ace doesn't hate Roger. BUT THAT HAS A VERY GOOD REASON! I SWEAR! You'll find out why later. But yeah, this is basically that Tokyo is an island in the grand line and Ace is a natural half ghoul. Speaking of which, anybody have good ideas for his ghoul alias? Mine aren't too great. Just write them in the reviews! Now to the pairings, while I feel myself capable of writing fluff, I think I'd screw up the lemons. And quite frankly, I don't feel ready to write that either. So when the time has come and you have an idea, just PM me and I'll mention it in the story. Same for any ideas you have that I should use in the story. PM me about those or post them in a review. Well then, before I bore you I'll leave. Until next time!**_


	2. Chapter 2

One eyed flame

Friday, 15 June 2018

11:13

 **AN: I don't own One Piece or Tokyo Ghoul, they belong to Mr. Oda and Mr. Ishida respectively**

Marco proceeded to carry Ace around the Moby Dick, earning more than a few strange looks from his siblings. Not that he minded, Ace seemed content. He even snuggled up to Marco at one point. It was endearing, to say the very least. Especially with what he had probably been through. Marco was no idiot, he knew what ghouls had to go through just to survive. Being hunted by the marines and the CCG was never easy. The marines were less of a problem though, they only showed up when the CCG needed help and vice versa. However, the CCG was a force to be reckoned with for ghouls. They fought with quinkes, weapons forged out of a ghouls kagune. They were specialists in fighting and destroying ghouls. Marco could understand their hatred to some extent, he knew many of them had lost someone because of ghouls, someone close to them. But that lead to them forgetting that ghouls were living beings too, with a heart and a soul. They didn't even think about the possibility that a ghoul didn't want to eat human flesh or live a life of crime. They were blinded by their hatred.

On the other hand, many ghouls really were monsters. They killed for the fun of it and had no regard for life whatsoever. Attacking innocents was only the tip of the iceberg. Marco had heard of one ghoul the CCG called Jason, a sadistic, bloodthirsty ghoul that used to live in the 13th ward of Tokyo Island. Most investigators of the CCG tried to avoid confrontation if it was possible. Jason had a tendency to torture people before he killed them, and the remains were never a pretty sight.

Or the binge eater, a ghoul that killed a few people each week, leaving only scraps and bits to identify the victim. The CCG didn't have a lead on him or her, they didn't even know the gender. Only that he or she was most likely in puberty and was most likely female due to all of the victims being young, attractive men. Still, that could just be a coincidence.

In the end, neither ghouls nor humans were innocent. Each species had their faults. Yet instead of searching for peaceful solutions, the CCG and the ghouls were constantly waging war against each other. So many lives lost for such stupid reasons. That caused humans to fear all ghouls as monsters, while ghouls either hated or feared humans. Some even hated themselves for being the way they were.

Marco swore to himself that he would make Ace feel comfortable around the family. He was a good kid and he deserved to be happy. Everyone did, they were all children of the sea after all.

Suddenly, Ace turned to him, right eye normal again. It seemed he was somewhat in control of himself again. Marco didn't understand why only one of Ace's eyes was red, ghouls had two red eyes after all. But he thought that might be a sensitive topic for Ace, so he didn't question it. Instead, he listened to Ace's question.

"Where are we going to, Marco?"

"We are going to pops' room-yoi. You can eat there." Marco noticed how Ace paled, obviously thinking it was a bad idea, before Marco could get a word out, Ace already started protesting.

"Marco, that's a horrible idea! He'll think I'm a monster or something like that! We can't do it!" Ace yelled, completely panicked.

"Ace", Marco said seriously, "do you think you're the only ghoul on this ship?"

-with Whitebeard-

Whitebeard was currently sitting with Thatch and Izo in his room, eating dinner. They needed the privacy since Izo's meals weren't for the faint of heart and he preferred eating with Thatch and sometimes him or one of the other commanders. Izo had been on a mission for the last three months and hadn't had the chance to meet their new brother yet. Of course, he hadn't agreed to joining the crew yet, but all in good time. Izo had even been able to get new food for himself, as he needed different things than the average person.

All in all it was a nice, relaxed evening. Or it should have been. Instead, Izo was questioning them about their resident fire-brat. And he was looking more worried by the second. Whitebeard didn't know what was worrying his son, and he hoped that it wasn't Ace. That would be bad since he really liked the little firecracker. Still, he decided to ask Izo what was wrong.

"Pops", Izo asked, "is it true that this Ace only drinks coffee? Nothing else?"

"Well, I have been told so. But Thatch, didn't you say some of the food in the storage went missing?" Whitebeard inquired. He really hoped Ace had eaten something decent. If not, he would personally make sure he did, even if that meant visiting an island and letting the boy choose a restaurant to go too.

"Yes Pops, amongst coffee, bread, canned peaches, canned corn, canned beans, chocolate, canned tuna and jam also went missing. I assumed he took it since he didn't trust me enough to cook for him since he always said it might be drugged or something. And it was a lot and none of our other brothers and sisters would have had to eat that much as they go to the galley. I really do hope he ate it. He has to eat something after all."

"I don't think he ate it Thatch.", Izo said. "You see, since I got here there was this weird smell, not quite human but not completely ghoul. And he only consumed coffee when you all were watching, didn't he?" Whitebeard and Thatch started nodding. "And he only took stuff from the storage, that one could preserve long even without a fridge. Doesn't that ring a bell?"

"So you think he's like you, son?" Whitebeard asked Izo. If he was, that could explain why he didn't want to join the crew. He might think he was a monster or something, but he wasn't. He was Ace, nothing more, nothing less. His son. He didn't care about stuff like that. Nobody did. At least not on this crew.

"Precisely", Izo said. It only makes sense like this. But you said he was here...how long again?"

"Three months!", Thatch squealed. " He must be starved! And being the idiot I am I tried to give him human food! I have to apologize at once!"

Izo chuckled at Thatch. That was why he loved the chef, he didn't care a bit about what you had to eat. He just wanted you to be able to enjoy it and be full. As he tended to say, no one went hungry on the Moby. He didn't care about species and made sure everyone could eat, including Izo. Izo knew that he was lucky to have Thatch around. Much luckier than most other ghouls.

Thatch in the meantime looked at Izo. So what if Ace was like him, a ghoul? He still thought Ace was his little brother and he still loved Izo. It was not like they wanted to be ghouls. It was luck. You couldn't decide what you'd be when you were born. And as long as they didn't kill anyone on the crew in cold blood, they would be a part of the family. Besides, hunger was one of the worst feelings out there and Thatch became a cook to make sure none of his brothers had to feel that. That included their ghoulish brothers as well. He would make sure that they had enough to eat. It was his job after all. And he wanted them to be well-fed and happy.

Whitebeard looked down at his sons. He had a pretty good idea of what was going on in their heads right now. Izo was predictable, being a ghoul himself. And Thatch didn't care about such trivial matters. Yes, Whitebeard thought it was a trivial matter if someone was a ghoul. Many tried to live peacefully after all and there was nothing someone could do against their nature. It didn't change how they felt about them, and it never would.

Aside from that, Whitebeard also saw how they were looking at each other. The light blush adorning their cheeks, their little gestures... It was painfully obvious that those were in love with each other. But they were tiptoeing around each other. It was cute to watch, especially because they would make such a cute couple. Whitebeard was sure that they would get together in the future, and until then he would wait patiently. He didn't want to pressure them after all.

Then, Thatch jumped up, proclaiming that he needed to get Ace some food. He asked Izo if they could use some of his, which he didn't object to since Izo knew how bad hunger is for a ghoul. Right when Thatch jumped up and was about to zoom out the door, a knock could be heard.

"Pops, this is Marco. Could Ace and I come in? It's important."

-with Ace and Marco-

Ace was really confused. What did Marco mean, were there other ghouls on the ship? He hadn't smelled any other ghouls for a while now-

Wait a minute! That scent... He had never smelled it before, but it was a ghoul. A male ghoul that smelled like gunpowder, makeup and smoke. A ghoul's scent was determined by their gender. Male ghouls had more dominant smells than female ghouls. Some smelled of smoke, iron or lava. Strong smells that were supposed to signalize strength and power. Females on the other hand smelled like things that were unnoticeable at first, but could be very powerful. Like fire (candle flame, could turn into a wildfire ), water (waves on the beach, could turn into a tsunami) and the wind (a gentle breeze, could turn into a hurricane). Yes, the wind had a smell. However, this could vary depending on the ghoul in question, some of the more peaceful males had a less dominant smell as their own smell wasn't used to mark their territory or fend off predatory ghouls often, while violent females often adapted with a more dangerous smell that was somehow related to their natural smell.

Ok, so this ghoul was a male. But why the makeup then? Maybe it was an okama like Nico or it was a crossdresser. Either way, he was sure to know how to hide oneself using makeup and stuff like that. If Ace joined the crew, he could ask to be taught. It was always a useful skill to have, especially if one needed to hide from the doves.

Then he also smelled like gunpowder, that meant he was probably a sniper on the crew. A sniper needed to have a good, precise aim. That could mean that the ghoul had an ukaku kagune. So Ace was neither in advantage or disadvantage if he had to fight the ghoul.

The closer they got to Whitebeards cabin, the stronger the scent got.

Ace looked at Marco. He seemed completely calm, not scared that Ace might snap at him. He seemed completely at ease. Ace wanted to ask Marco why he was that relaxed, but they were already in front of Whitebeard's cabin. Marco knocked.

"Pops, this is Marco. Could Ace and I come in? It's important."

Ok, now it was definitely to late to turn back. And even if he ran, the other ghoul would find him. So Ace decided to not make the situation any worse as it already was and curled up in Marco's arms, trying to get as small as possible. He curled his head up in his arms so that nobody could see his kakugan and braced himself for the meeting.

Marco noticed this shift in Ace's demeanor and tried to comfort him. "Ace, you can relax. We won't hurt you. I promise. We are just going to give you something to eat. We want to help, really. And if you feel too uneasy, we can leave. Nobody in that room will judge you for something you can't control. Besides, if we did Izo wouldn't be on board.

Ace relaxed a tiny bit, which Marco took as an encouragement and went into the room. Pops, Thatch and Izo were still around the table. Well, Thatch ran towards them the moment they entered, zoomed out the door and said something about being back in a minute. Ace tensed for a moment, then relaxed again. Still, he had his entire face hidden in Marco's shirt, pulling it down to cover his face and slightly cuddling into the older man's chest. It was a bit cute as Marco had to admit. Though, it was a bit unnerving to feel every gaze in the room trained on you with such intensity. Even Marco was starting to feel a tad bit uncomfortable.

"Ace, son, how are you doing?", Whitebeards deep voice split the silence. Concern laced his usually joyful voice, eyes had a worried gleam in them. A worried, knowing gleam.

"'m fine", Ace mumbled from underneath Marco's shirt, clearly embarrassed. Though one could tell from one look at Izo that he was not buying it, and Whitebeard looked sceptic too. But Izo, oh Izo had this you-gotta-be-kidding-me-look that signalized when he knew you were hiding something. Then again, he could probably smell that Ace was a ghoul. Marco wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

"Ace", Marco tried to get him to tell the truth. It was important for him to know he was accepted, regardless of what he was. Especially since Ace already thought really lowly of himself.

When Ace didn't stir, Izo walked up to him, a determined gleam in the older ghouls eye. When he was right next to Ace, he stopped. "Bullshit.", he started, "You aren't fine. You are hungry-AND DON'T TELL ME YOU AREN'T! I CAN SENSE THAT!"

That snapped Ace out of his stupor and he looked up into a makeup covered face. He stared at that face with an incredulous look. He had never met a ghoul that could sense stuff like that! As far as he knew, that was a really rare ability. A powerful one at that.

But his remark had Ace think too. If he knew and said it so openly...then the others in the room (including Thatch who ran out the door) knew too!

But before Ace could even think about fleeing out of the room, Whitebeard spoke. "Ace, son, why didn't you tell us?", sadness in his voice. "We could've helped you. You didn't have to starve yourself." He looked at Ace, eyes filled with sadness, but also understanding.

A hope filled Ace, one that he had only felt a few times before. The hope to be accepted.

"Besides," the other ghoul in the room said, " we don't exactly kill for food. Sure, enemies die in battle, like it is with any other pirate crew. We take and use what we can from them before giving them a proper burial at sea. Everyone deserves at least that. But most food comes from suicide victims that ended their life of their own will. We aren't the monsters the world insists we are and we will never be them."

'Just like Anteiku', Ace thought. The place were he spent a great deal of his childhood. A home away from home. Remembering that made Ace feel nostalgic, remembering all the good times with his friends. Maybe he could make memories like that here. He wasn't alone, that was for sure.

He just had to make sure...

"Why don't you care? Why?", Ace asked, hope in his voice.

"Because you can't decide to be born human or ghoul. It's just luck, and it isn't right to judge someone for that." Whitebeard laughed a hearty laugh, while looking at Ace with fondness. "Besides, we don't care if you had bad parents or even if you are a ghoul. We all are children of the sea after all! Guararara!"

Ace stared at Whitebeard in shock. Though Marco told him that he would be accepted and he had hoped for it, it was always a different thing in real life. So he did something that he hadn't thought he would do. While Marco and the other ghoul smiled at him, he looked up to Whitebeard, the one who had accepted him. His eyes were still a bit teary and tear trails were still visible on his cheeks, yet this was the perfect moment.

He smiled at his father.

 _ **AN:**_ _ **So, not much to say here! Just hoe you enjoyed the second chapter. Ace might appear a little ooc here, but I tried to make being a ghoul his greatest secret. He doesn't hate Roger, remember? Also: Yay! A second ghoul on Whitebeard's ship! Woohoo, Ace isn't completely alone. As for the ghoul-scents, I tried to make it sound real. Smoke, iron and lava are smells I usually connect with obvious strength and power, while I connect fire with hidden strength. I mean, who thinks ' Oh, gotta look after the candle flame. It's too dangerous to be left unsupervised at any time for any time.' It's just a daily thing we don't put any thought into. Also, Humans have a savory smell underneath their natural smells, so ghouls can identify them as a food source. And while they usually smell like something that isn't to dangerous (paper and ink), there are some that smell like ghouls and the savory smell is there to help identify them. Let's take Akainu, he smells like lava because of his devil fruit, but because of the savory smell he won't be mistaken for a ghoul. Well, that's enough for today. See ya!**_


End file.
